Bailer or sand pump



4 WZ( A W. A. LARSON ET AL Filed Aug. 4. 1939 .l B I ATTORNEY l Patented Jan, 16, 1940 `William A. Larson, Centralia, Ill., vand Harry T. Swortwood, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Application August 4, 1939, 'serial No. 288,356 scimmial v (o1. 16s-19) The invention herein described is an improveljne'nt over the related' inventions covered by United States Patent fNo. 2,090,209, issued August l 1,7, 1937, and by .patent application Serial No. '5" 176,796, filed November 27, i937, now Patentflo. 2,176,231, granted Oct. l?, 1939, andrelates to bailers, sand pumps; or plunger type pumps, and more particularly to. plungers for such pumps.

Itis the chief objectof4 the invention vto pro- 1vide a bailer or sand pump which has the following combined advantageous features: a cable operated plunger which leaves a comparatively -large and unobstructed iiuid passage area. im- .'mediately above the plunger in the barrel, as opposed tothe necessarily restricted passage area in the lsolid rod operatedv plunger type pump, the larger passage area ygreatly reducing ythe chances of the plunger sticking due to sand set-y tling on top of the plunger; a swivel connection .20 between cable andv plunger to prevent kinkngl of the cable during hard spliclding; a rope socketv v connection betweencable and swivel to prevent accidental loss of the bailer 'or pump in thewall;

a plunger sealing element which'is easily and 25 quickly replaceable without welding 'andwithoutftaking the entire plunger to a machine shop;

a weighted one-way plungerfvalve vvhicldisl positivelyheld open byy the weight asthe 'plunger passes downward inthe barrel, yet which'is posi- 80 tively held closedl duringfthe upstroke; a combined plunger valve head. and swivel 'corinection Inembe'r which yis replaceableeas'ly and ql'iic'kly; a weight below the sealing elementwhich l* serves not only to vpull the Vplunger downward 35 through yiud in the barrel', but which also Serves to prevent the sealing kelement from reaching the extremely heavy sand laden iiuid at the bottom of the barrel, which uid often sticks sand pump plungers at the beginning of the upstroke;

'im and` a --jar which-aids in dislo-dging the entire plunger in case it becomes stuck in the barrel. The details in the` construction'of a preferred form of this inventiomtogether with other ob-.

jects attending its production will be 'better unlderstood from the following description when read in connection withA theaccompanyng drawing, which is chosen forvfillustrative purposes 0nly,\and in which,

` "50 Figure 1. is a vertical sectional View through,

a' sand pump embodying the invention,l and shows aipreferred type of plunger in position-within a pump barrel, the usual head and valved bottom Vfor the barrel lbeing omitted;` L

55 .Figures r2, 3, 4 and -5,.are horizontal sectional views taken respectively Ial'ong'the lines 242, `lie-"3, 'ii- 4, and -l5 '01 Figure 1.v

Likecharacters of reference-designate like parts in all the gures. y a

The Sand pump embodying the invention in-` 5 cludes the' Yusual tubular barrel '9, provided -`at its upper end with the suitable head (not shown), and provided Aat its lower :end 'with a suitable valved bottom (not shown).l f

The pump Aplunger is'made up of two main "Im parts, the sealing "element, which is designated as fa wholeby'the'numerall, anda-combination `valve head guide and plunger weight, which is designated as a whole 'by the numeral S. The sealing element i is madein the form ci a sleeve, M the 'diameter of the "longitudinal ybore through the sleeve being enlarged intermediate its ends to form a1 cavity "9. .A 'side entrance it :is provided-adjacent the cavity 9 by cutting away a portion of 'the Wall offthe sleeve. Thiscavityl il and its side entrance lil `serves to `permit a valve head il and its VStem lfto'enter thelower endv of the sleeve `without the use of tools ciany kind. It will be noted that thelength of the "cavityii is `approximately twice -tlie length ofgthe 4 25 valveliea'dso that longitudinal movement of the valve head il is permitted within theflower -end of vthe sleeve. v

The valve head stem l2 vis integraP-witha combination valve head guide and plunger weight 30 8, as i's clearly shown 1in Figure l.' The @valve head is of considerably larger diameter than lthe stem Iii. The mernber'isfprovided with -a plurality of longitudinally exten-ding radially .projecting circumierentiallyspaced guides i3, which 35 serve to Acontact the walls vof the barrel 5 and to thus maintain the member 2 andthe valve head ii in ya concentric positiontlierein. Pret'n verably, the member il is 4considerably longer than the-sleeve l, and due toits siz'e'it exerts consid- 40 erable Weight on the valve head -l i, tending to keep the valve head'at the lower end of the cav-4 ityll during the downstroke cf the plunger. The lower end of the member lprovidu'ed with a plurality of slots vill, Which-serve as duid passages. 45 It -is also provided with a portion of enlarged v v diameter iii, whichserves to contact the interior wall of the barrel G in a manner similar to the f guides l3,`and to serve as additional guide for this member. and the upperpcrtionof "the member i3 are longitudinallyv bored vto receive a iiexible plunger reciprocatingelement it, which, in the'drawing, has been illustrated a wire cable. A rope socket Il is io'rmed intermediate fthe ends of 55 l Thevvalve head il, its stern l2, 450` the member 8, and the lower end of the cable I6 is babbitted in this socket in the usual manner.

A valve seat I8 is formed in the sealing element 'I at the upper end of the cavity 9 and serves to seat the Valve head Il as the entire plunger is moved upward in its barrel by means of the cable I6. A piston ring I9 located above the valve seat I8 serves to seal against the walls of the barrel B.

In operation it will be seen that the entire sand pump may be lowered into a well and that fluid is free to pass into the usual check valve in the bottom of the pump barrel 6, upward through the barrel past the guides I5, through the slots I4, thence through the annular space surrounding the member 8 upward through the passage I0, the cavity 9, and the reduced sleeve bore above the cavity 9. The frictional contact of the sealH ing element 'I with the walls of the barrel 6 will ordinarily be suicient to maintain the member 8 and the sleeve 1 in the relative positions shown in Figure 1 of the drawing except during the upstroke of the plunger.

When the bottom of the bailer sets on the bottom of the well, the entire plunger moves downward through any fluid which may be in the barrel, until the lower end of the member 8 contacts the bailer bottom. The length of the member 8 naturally limits the approach of the sealing element 'I toward the bottom oi the bailer, thus holding the sealing element 'I above the fluid which is most heavily laden with sand. At the beginning of the up stroke of the plunger, the head II seats on its seat and the fluid in the barrel above the plunger is forced out through ports or through the head of the barrel, while sand laden fluid is drawn in through the valved bottom of the barrel. The plunger may be reciprocated several times, and additional sand laden fluid drawn in through the bottom each time. Each stroke of the plunger, however, Would ordinarily be of less length than the previous stroke due to the fact that a considerable amount of sand settles to the bottom of the fluid within the barrel. The entire barrel is then withdrawn from the well and the sand laden fluid emptied and the bailing process repeated until the well is substantially free of sand at its bottom.

It will be seen that with the construction de scribed there has been provided a swivel means for attaching the operating cable to the plunger, a weight means below the sealing element (where it is most practical) for holding the plunger valve open when the plunger operating element is slack; a pump in which the upper end of the barrel above the plunger is comparatively unobstructed, being occupied only by a cable of comparatively small diameter; and a pump in which the sealing element proper is not permitted to actually reach the iluid at the extreme bottom of the pump, which fluid is, of course, most heavily laden with sand and often causes the plunger to stick near the end of the downstrolre.

Whilea specific embodiment oi' the invention has been described, it will be understood that numerous alterations and changes may be made therein and it is not intended that the invention should be limited, except by the prior art and by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a bailer or sand pump, a plunger comprising: a sleeve-like sealing element having a comparatively large valve cavity intermediate its ends communicating with a pair of smaller longitudinally extending aligned bore holes, the outer ends of which extend to the extreme opposite ends of the element; a combination valve head guide and plunger weight having an integral valve stem formed at its upper end, said stem being of a cross sectional size and shape to freely rotate and slide within the bore hole in the lower end cf said sealing element; and a valve head rigidly secured to the upper end' of said stem and reciprocable and rotatable within said valve cavity for effecting a swivel connection between the sealing element and the weight; and plunger operating means connected to said weight and extending upward through the bore hole in the upper end of said sealing element.

2. In a bailer or sand pump, a plunger comprising: a sleeve-like sealing element having a comparatively large valve cavity intermediate its ends communicating with a pair oi smaller longitudinally extending aligned bore holes, the outer ends of which extend to the extreme opposite ends of the element; a combination valve head guide and plunger weight having an integral valve stem formed at its upper end, said stem being of a cross sectional size and shape to freely rotate and slide within the bore hole in the lower end of said sealing element; and a valve head rigidly secured to the upper end of said stem and reciprocable and rotatable within said valve cavity for effecting a swivel connection between the sealing element and the weight; a rope socket extending through said valve head, said valve stem, and into said guide and weight; and a ilexible plunger operating element secured rmly in said rope socket and extending upward through the bore hole in the upper end of said sealing element, and slideable therethrough.

3. In a bailer or sand pump, a plunger comprising: a sleeve-like sealing element having a pair of comparatively small concentric longitudinally extending bores in its opposite ends communicating with an enlarged substantially cylindrical concentric cavity located intermediate the ends of said element; a valve head reciprocable and rotatable within said enlarged cavity, said head having a larger cross sectional area than either of the small concentric bores in said element; a valve seat formed at the upper end of said cavity for seating said valve head; a valve stem connected rigidly to said head and protruding from the lower end oi said sealing element and reciprocable and rotatable within the small bore therein; a combination Valve head guide and plunger weight rigidly connected to said valve stern and extending for a considerable distance therebelow; and a flexible element having one end secured to said guide and plunger weight and extending upward through said stem, said valve head, said enlarged cavity, and the small bore in the upper end of said sealing element for operating the plunger.

4. In a bailer or sand pump, a plunger comprising: a sleeve-like sealing element having a comparatively large valve cavity located intermediate its ends and communicating with the inner ends of a pair of smaller longitudinally extending aligned bore holes, the outer ends of which extend to the extreme opposite ends of the ele- Ament; a valve seat formed at the upper end of lower end of said sealing element and rigidly ward through the bore hole in the upper end of connected tosaid valve head, the latter thus efsaid sealing element, said means also adapted fecting a swivel connection between the sealing. to eect the seating of Isaid Valve head on its element and the combination guide and weight; seat.

5 and plunger operating means secured to the WILLIAM A. LARSON. l 5

combination guide and weight and extending up- HARRY T. SWORTWOOD. 

